Link & Ilia one-shots
by Jane Glass
Summary: All of my Link & Ilia one-shots. Enjoy! (Will be updated whenever I write new one-shots. Possible spoilers for LoZ:TP and/or SSBB)
1. Unconditional Love

**Unconditional Love**

**Summary: A familiar morning leads to a unfamiliar evening, and finally Link tells Ilia some things that he feels she should know.**

* * *

The Princess of Twilight went back to her home and kingdom after breaking one of the only portals between the two worlds with a sparkling tear drop, and not long after the Castle of Hyrule was rebuilt and the Hero went home to Ordon.

It's been years now and all of their lives are back to normal...mostly.

These days Link, the Hero of many things, spends his days at the ranch or accepting odd jobs. It's slow, and he misses the action and adventure he had grown accustom to, but it's better in ways.

He and his childhood friend get to spend more time with each other, at least. She's becoming something more to him though. They both feel the change. They've felt it for years...but they never knew what it was.

Now though...

* * *

"Link! Hey, Link!"

Looking out the window on the third floor of his tree house, Link spots Fado, a tall and muscular young man with freckles and a short haircut. He usually works on the farm, but sometimes he gets Link to work on the farm in his stead.

"Hey, you mind handlin' the goats today? They ain't listenin' to me."

Link nods, the corners of his mouth lifting in a amused smile.

After climbing down some ladders he reaches the door leading outside, then he climbs down one last ladder before walking up to Fado, "They don't listen to you a lot, eh?"

Fado crosses his arms, "You goin' to help or stand there and mock me?"

Link smirks, "Can I do both?" Fado lets out a low growl while Link turns to where his horse, Epona, is usually...but she isn't there.

"Hey, Epona's gone missin' again? Better go an' find her."

Link nods and heads for the path leading away from Ordon. While walking, he notices how familiar this all seems. It's very similar to the day...that Ilia and Colin were taken away...the day Link was knocked out in Ordon's spring...the day he was turned into a wolf...and the day he met Midna...the Twilight Princess.

Soon he reaches the area where, sure enough, Epona and Ilia were.

"Oh, hey, Link. I know you get tired of me washing her because you need her...but she likes it."

Link shakes his head a bit, smiling lightly, "No, I'm glad."

Ilia smiles back at him, "Good. Well, anyways, you can take her now...if you have to."

Link walks forward and pets Epona, running his fingers through her hair, "I have to. The goats ain't listening to Fado."

Ilia shakes her head while laughing, "Go ahead then."

Link nods, then takes Epona's reins into his hands and pulls her along with him.

"See you later!"

Link turns to smile sadly at Ilia as some old wounds get pinched by her words, but after a moment he nods, "You too." He swallows hard as he continues walking, part of him wanting to talk about his past, but another part of him wishing to bury his past somewhere far beneath the ground at his feet.

He needs to talk about it though. He needs to talk with Ilia about it.

Thoughts like these swarm about in his mind as he walks to the ranch and as he puts the goats away.

He's still thinking about the same thing as the sun begins to set.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Link looks up from his place on the ground to see Ilia walking over.

He had put Epona near the gate of the open grass area where the goats usually roam, and he had seated himself on the pretty new green grass.

He shrugs a bit, breathing in the wonderful spring air.

Ilia sits next to him, "Just taking it in?"

Link smiles, "Just thinking."

Ilia watches him wearily, "About what?"

"The past... And things...I need to tell you."

Ilia tilts her head, "Link, you don't have to do anything you don't want to."

Link looks at Ilia, "I want to..."

Ilia stares back at him, "Okay...I'm listening."

Link looks down, trying to figure out what to say...trying to find words...wishing his courage would help him...hoping she would understand...doubting...

He looks at her finally, "Promise you won't run?"

She laughs, and seeing her smiling, her eyes glinting in humor, her warm happiness, Link, too, laughs a bit.

"Link..." Ilia begins after a moment, smiling at him, but serious, "nothing you do...nothing you are...nothing you say...nothing anyone else does or says...will make me scared of you or angry at you or upset or anything like that..."

"Thank you..."

Ilia stares at him in silence, waiting for whatever he might say. And finally he glances at her again, his bright sparkling blue eyes meeting her spring forest green eyes, "Do you remember the day you and Colin were taken away? We had been talking in Ordon Spring."

Ilia nods, but says nothing.

"After I got up from being hit in the head, I had started running in the direction that the Bulblins had taken you. And I...saw this large black wall with gold lines... And I was pulled into the wall... I can't...really remember it all, but...I... I'm one of the Hero's of the Triforce... A Hero...chosen by the gods."

Ilia smiles lightly, "Is the the bad news or...you just thought I should know? I kind of always knew you were important."

"Well...I can turn into a wolf... I turn into a wolf only in Twilight though..." He pauses, awaiting her questions.

"Twilight...? Not like, the sunset, though, right?"

Link smiles at her, "No, I don't think so... You see, there's another world. A Twilight world. And Zant and Ganondorf wanted to mix the two worlds, but when they did, they hurt people from both worlds. The two worlds...can't mix. I guess I'm a hero of both worlds...but I turn into a wolf in the Twilight."

Ilia nods, "I see... I bet you were a cute wolf."

Link looks away, laughing a bit in somewhat embarrassment.

Ilia nudges him with her arm, "Hey, I'll always be your f...I'll always...love you."

Link glances at her, "I'll always...love you too."

Ilia smiles at him, her eyes bright with happiness.

It was the first time they said those words...they'd always loved each other though, in some way, but now it meant something else. Something new...

* * *

**END**


	2. Somewhere Under the Rainbow

**Somewhere Under the Rainbow**

**Summary: After talking for hours, Link and Ilia notice that the sun is setting, and soon begin enjoying it, but it also saddens Ilia, as it reminds her of happy stories her mother used to tell her. Soon she mentions a place over the rainbow...a perfect place...**

* * *

Link and Ilia had been laughing and talking for some time, and soon the sun was setting into the trees. Only now did the pair notice how late it had gotten as they stare upward at the bright and beautiful shades of orange and pink.

Ilia smiles and lets out a sad sigh, "It's so lovely." Link nods, watching her in silence. After a moment she turns to meet his gaze, "It makes me sad, though."

He stares into her emerald green eyes with his sparkling blue ones, "Why?"

Ilia looks down, breaking the eye contact, "It...reminds me of stories my mother used to tell me. She used to tell stories about perfect places... I know the world isn't like that, but I still remember how wonderful the stories were."

Link turns his eyes to the sky, imagining what the stories were like. He had heard a few stories from Uli and Rusl...but both of them had stopped telling him stories a long time ago.

He smiles now, noticing a rainbow just above the spring in front of them. He nudges Ilia, "Look," he says before pointing towards the pretty curved line of colors.

"A rainbow..." Ilia murmurs, smiling, "My mother once told a story of a place above rainbows. It was so lovely...it was every child's dream."

Link looks to Ilia wearily. She's been thinking about her mother a lot lately. She must miss her.

"Ilia, that sounds great... This is also great, though. Here friends surround you, you're in a familiar place, you may not have everything you want, but there's enough to keep you happy."

Ilia nods, smiling, "I'm content here. Next to my best friend, watching the sun set."

Link reaches over to grab her hand before entwining their fingers, "Someone else can have that place somewhere over the rainbow. We'll stay here, somewhere under the rainbow."

Ilia smiles brightly at that, a warm feeling in her heart and a shine in her eyes.

They both stay right there, staring at all the beauty around them: orange, pink and red colors mixing overhead, the rainbow, and each other.

* * *

**END**


End file.
